In Canada, licence plate numbers are usually assigned in ascending order, beginning with a starting point such as AAA-001. As such, someone familiar with the sequence can determine roughly when the licence plate was issued. After Ontario's transition to an ABCD-123 format in 1997, plates were issued in ascending order starting with AAAA-001. It took close to 10 years to exhaust the supply of plate numbers with A as the first digit. In late 2006, plates with B as the first digit were assigned, and have continued from there sequentially. Plates with C as the first digit are now commonplace as of 2021. The gradual increase in the use of letters in the serials of licence plates has given rise to an increased possibility of unintentional profane or inappropriate words or messages arising from the use of sequential alphanumeric combinations. Thus, numbering sequences generally exclude certain combinations of letters or numbers that would be potentially offensive. Jurisdictions' attention to excluding offensive combinations varies widely, however. In 1986, Waldale, a Canadian licence plate manufacturer, due to a production error, produced an entire batch of

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

plates that began with the letters ASS. The plates were issued, and were unofficially scrapped, but many found their way into the collectors' black market. From 1971 to 1975, Manitoba's licence plate bore the slogan "Sunny Manitoba: 100,000 lakes,"Manitoba License Plays, 1969-Present
/ref> but was changed to "Friendly Manitoba," possibly due to conflict with

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

's "10,000 lakes" slogan.

Current designs and serial formats

''The most recent design or serial format being issued.''

Passenger plates

''Note: For Ontario and Quebec electric vehicle plates, letters in bold denotes that they are specifically set to identify them, apart from the regular issuance.''

Commercial plates

''Most provinces issue separate commercial plates for trucks, usually for commercial purposes or over a certain vehicle weight.''

Former designs and serial formats still valid

''Designs or serial formats that are no longer issued, yet are still valid for use.''

References

External links

Automobile License Plate Collectors' Association

Current High-Issue License Plates (U.S. and Canada)

License Plates of North America, 1969-Present

The Back Bumper
{{Vehicle registration plates of Canada